Objective: To explore the effect of lycopene as an antioxidant on a Parkinson’s disease animal model.
Study Design: Parkinson’s disease was induced in mice using MPTP, a neurotoxin. The MPTP-treated mice were divided into 2 groups: a lycopene intervention group and a control group. Behavioral tests were used to detect the neuroprotective effect of lycopene, and western blot was applied to test the anti-apoptotic effect.
Results: Lycopene exerted a neuroprotective effect, as shown by the improved beam latency and suspension time. Compared with the Parkinson’s mice control group, the dopamine level of the lycopene intervention group was significantly higher (p<0.05), while the oxidative stress level was obviously decreased (p<0.05). Furthermore, lycopene upregulated the protein expression of Bcl-2 and cyto-2 and downregulated the expression of Bax and Caspase 3, 8, and 9, exerting a neuroprotective effect on Parkinson’s disease in mice.
Conclusion: Overall, we demonstrated that lycopene treatment attenuates the Parkinson’s-induced neurodegeneration via reducing oxidative stress, apoptosis, and physical anomalies.